May 2017 BusinessDaily; Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (Meds) has set up a Sh12million cold room for diabetes drugs.

Unveiled last Friday in partnership with Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare fir, it will help improve and increase stocking of insulin.

Meds managing director Paschal Manyuru, said the medical commodity supplier has been instrumental in ensuring un-interrupted supply of human insulin for the past five years to 27 counties in Kenya.

“The larger and more modern cold room comes as a relief not just to Meds and its partners but to people living with diabetes” said Mr Manyuru during the launch.

“In the past, Meds has experienced challenges regarding storage of insulin thus the thought to partner with Novo Nordisk under their Base of the Pyramid (BoP).”

BoP, which was launched in Kenya in 2012 has, among other initiatives, helped to lower the price of insulin by more than 70 per cent, he said.
Providing improved access to care and treatment is significant in a country like Kenya where diabetes is on the rise.

More than 478,000 Kenyans (2.4 per cent of the adult population) are living with diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

The number is set to rise to 1, 121,000 by 2040, if there is no reversal. This represents a projected growth of 135 per cent. Today, almost 60 per cent of people with diabetes in the country remain undiagnosed.

People living with diabetes can live longer and healthier lives if the disease is detected early and well-managed.

Undetected and poorly managed cases can lead to loss of vision, cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease and amputation.

Novo Nordisk, Middle Africa-General Manager Venkat Kalyan said partnerships are crucial to ensuring sustainability of the fight against diabetes.

Kalyan said that three out of four people with diabetes live in low or middle income countries and such partnerships will translate to an unprecedented economic impact for public health in these countries.

“As the world’s largest producer of human insulin, we see it is both a corporate responsibility and a business opportunity to support local health authorities and organisations in making sure that insulin is accessible and affordable to the middle and low income patient,” said Kalyan.